Improved knife-cleaning machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE VEEDON, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED KNIFE-CLEANING MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 37,537, dated January 27, 1868.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE WEnDoN, a native and subject of the Kingdom of Great Britain, but now residing in the city and county of New York, and State of'New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cleaning and Securing Knives, (which said improvements have been patented by me in England by certain Letters Patent issued by the Government thereof to myself (George Veedon) and Thomas Turner Veedon, No. 2,833, dated November 9. 1857 g also to myself (George Vlee-` don) and David William Rice, No. 1,955, dated August 28, 1858;) and I hereby declare that the following is afull and correct description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, and to the letters of reference thereon.

The nature of my said invention consists in combining together in a knife cleaning or scouring machine a series of reversible holders, a scouring-board, and a holdfast, the whole being constructed and arranged, substantially as hereinafter described, so as to hold the blades of a number of knives fiatwise and parallel to each other an the scouring-board that they may be scoured on one side at a time with ahand-brush and reversed at the pleasure of the operator. But more particularly to describe my said invention I will refer to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section; Fig. 3, a cross-section; Fig. 4, a detached View of T-lever and cams for operating the holdfast.

Letter a represents the frame of the machine, which is rimmed to answer the purpose of a tray to hold the scouring material, knives, dac., and is provided with screws ac, whereby it may be secured to a bench or table.

Letter b represents the scouring board,

v which may be made of pine wood-or any suitable material.

c c2 c3 c4 c5 c6 are a series of horizontal cylA inders parallel to each other inbearings in a frame d, to which they are con fined by flanges, so as to turn freely. Each of these cylinders is connected by a crank e and arm c with a horizontal bar f, lying in the frame d. Immediately over the cylinders f is a cover to the inclosed frame d, to keep out dirt, the., and

being attached t0 the horizontal bar f it operates as a stop to determine the position of the cylinders. In the ends of the cylinders that face the scouring-board are "sockets g, adapted to the shape of the knife-handles which are introduced therein, the blades resting iiatwise on the scouring-board with the knife-edges kept down to the same, the sockets being placed at an inclination, as shown in the drawings, for that purpose in order to prevent damage to the brush or knife-edges.

The frame d is secured toa horizontal sliding bed d', so as to be moved toward oraway from the scouring-board, in order to accommodate different-sized handles. A stop-pin d2 prevents it from being accidentally slipped out of the machine. In place of the pin a clamping-screw may be used to confine the frame d to the frame of the machine by making the pin-hole in the frame a screw-hole.

I call the above-mentioned series of cylinders provided with sockets to hold the knifehandles and jointed to the horizontal bar re- Versible holders, because by taking hold of the barf by the handle f2 and lifting it, then moving it lengthwise and downward the position of the sockets may be reversed at pleasure of the operator for the' purpose of turning over the knife-blades upon the scouring-table.

Letter h represents the holdfast. It is a horizontal bar of iron placed over the knifehandles between the reversible holders and the scouring-board. Its office is to hold the knife-blades tightagainst the scouring-board by pressing down upon the handles, and to the end that the handles may not be marked or otherwise injured and that the handles shall be partially grasped by the holdfast a cushion of vulcanized rubber i or other suitable material is secured to the under side of the holdfast by means of a strip of Wood Z, to which the cushion is attached and which is fitted to a` recess made in the holdfast with beveled ends for that purpose, or in any other suitable manner. The holdfast is sustained and moved up and down to hold and release the handles, as follows: I7' j are upright tubular guides fastened to the frame by screws through their base-plates 719 7s. At each end of the holdfast are secured by adjustingscrews the vertical rods Z Z', which playup and down in the tubular guides, said holdfast-rods passing down through a hole in the frame and terminating in heads m m/,in each of which a square hole or eye n nn is made. The holdfast is elevated by the actionv of the springs o oand pressed down on the knifehandles by the action of the cams p p', fast to arms of the T-lever q, which turns freely on the fulcrum-pin 7^, the cams taking into the eyes of the holdfast-rods and drawing them down when the lever is moved for that v purpose.

In the operation of the machine the frame containing the reversible holders is set at su chA a dista-nce from the edge of the scouringboard as will adirit of placing the knife-handles therein in su( h manner that the blades only shall rest on the surface of the scouringboard, the bolster, or that part of the knife between the handle and blade, resting again st the edge of the scouring-board. The operator then places the knives in the holders and brings down the holdfast upon the handles by moving the handle of the lever q outward from the frame. The holdfast remains in position when pressed down by reason of the shape of the cams, and by reason of the elasticity of the blades the knives are held very firmly to the scouring-board While the operator is scouring them. Vhen sufficiently scoured on one side, the holdfast is released by moving back the handle of the lever, the blades reversed by the action of the reversible holders, as before described, the holdfast again brought down upon the handle, as before, and the operation of scouringthe unfinished side of the blades proceeded with. For the purpose of scouring I prefer to use abrush provided with a handle for each hand, such as figured in the drawings at Fig. 5, and also to confine the bristles by several leaves s, Fig. which are made of wood, not glued to the back of the brush wherein the bristles are secured. Being perforated so as to surround the bristles, .they support the same, and when the bristles wear down and become too stiff, by removi'nga leaf the brush may be rendered more flexible. A brush constructed in this manner will last a long time with ordinary polishing 'and scouring material, much longer than a brush without the removable leaves.

I do not claim herein any particular way of moving the holdfast or securing the same so as to hold down the knives upon the scouring-board. Neither do I claim herein any particular means of turning the reversible holders simultaneously. It is obvious that many mechanical expedients for these purposes may be resorted to.

I claim- In a machine for cleaning and scouring knives, the combination of reversible holders,

scouring-board, and holdfast, substantiallyl as described, and substantially for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

GEORGE VVEEDON. Witnesses:

F. O. TREADWELL, Junr., J As. S. WIGHTMAN. 

